LA Zine Fest 2018 Reflection

Now that we are past the LA Zine Fest, we wanted to share our experience and reflect on the event, as well as share our photos from the event. We had an absolutely great time at the fest! We met so many amazing people, both attendees and fellow zinsters. This was an incredibly inspiring event with so much energy and kindness.

We came to this event with no idea what to expect, but a lot of optimism. We decided just to make our table look nice, be prepared to talk to a lot of people, enjoy the other tables, and just generally out ourselves out there. We were not disappointed.

Our topic is very niche. There were other zinesters there with specific topics, like a self-care workbook zine, and a recipe zine called “food for feels.” Many people also had prints and patches. It made us really excited to do another zine fest so that we could expand on our table and do more!

For the first few hours, there was a trickle of people and it was easy to get around. But by the afternoon, so many people came to see the art! It was so cool to see all the support that the artists were receiving from the public.

There were lots of amazing tables and organizations at the fest, like this one, JT’s Wonderfull. Everyone’s zines, prints, art, and displays were so inspiring!

At the venue, the Pasadena Convention Center, there was this amazing public art piece “The Other Toy Story” by Joyce Dallal. The multitude of colorful toys is so visually fun.

There was also a little gallery of past LA Zine Fest posters as well as the work of @richwestkoast who made the 2018 poster.

Overall, we had an amazing experience and we are so inspired to go to even more zine fests!

Volume 5 is Here!

Volume 5 is officially here! This is the fifth installation of our independently published mini-magazine, Storied Stitches! This issue has it all; writing on knitting inspiration, identity and sewing, stitching illustrations, gorgeous photos, and even a crochet-themed limerick Perfect reading for your late-summer evenings.

You can access the zine in several ways. You can read the zine for free on your desktop on Issuu here. You can download a high quality PDF via Google Drive here. Or you can buy a physical copy of the zine here on Etsy. 

If you read it and it inspired you, we would love to have you participate in Volume 6! The deadline is September 25th. Tell us about your knitting, show us your crochet, share your embroidery with your stitching peers by emailing us at StoriedStitches@gmail.com!

Storied Stitches at the LA Zine Fest!

Southern California friends, we will be at the LA Zine Fest this year! Come say hi! We will be there with the brand new Volume 4, which is going to be a great read, as well as Volumes 1 through 3 and big plans for the next year. Caroline will also have her Witches zines on offer. We are super excited to see what all the other zinesters have been up to. With 200 different vendors will be there it’ll be really cool to experience a slice of LA’s zine and independent publishing scene. The event will be on Sunday, May 27th at the Pasadena Convention Center and will be open to the public 11 am to 6 pm. See you there! Check out the LA Zine Fest website for more info.

CCA Holiday Craft Fair 2017

This past December, Storied Stitches had the pleasure of tableing at the California College of the Arts Holiday Fair. We had a blast talking to folks about our zine! We also shared a table with our friend, Tori, who had amazing screen-printed garments.

Our table was in an amazing spot – right under this amazing mural painted by CCA students and we got a great response from everyone there. We feel that the exposure of craft fairs like these are invaluable, even if we don’t end up selling a ton of zines. We want to define success beyond the financial and spread knitting conversations and inspiration to everyone who wants it.

Caroline (who illustrates Storied Stitches covers) also had paintings, screen-printed bags, and a few knitted items on display. We also had Storied Stitches stickers as a sort of business card (and one is included in every Vol. 2).

We had a great experience with our first tabling experience with Storied Stitches and we are looking forward to going to more zine/craft fairs in the future!

Valentina (Storied Stitches writer extraordinaire) now has this paper banner in her bedroom!

 xoxo

Caroline and Valentina

the Storied Stitches crew

Storied Stitches Volume 2 Release

We are happy to announce the release of volume two of Storied Stitches. This zine is a collection of original work by seven different knitters exploring a range of topics. Storied Stitches is an independently produced and published mini-magazine that seeks to reflect the vibrant culture of knitting.

How to access Volume 2:

• Etsy! You can find it on Etsy.

• Free! PDF version via Google Drive here .

• Free! Read on your desktop via Issuu here.

• Venmo! Just DM us saying “Hi, I would like a copy of the zine. Here is my mailing address and Venmo username” then Venmo $7 (includes shipping) to @Valentina-Castro-1.

• Paypal! DM us with your paypal email and we will send you an invoice for $7 and the zine!

You are also all invited to submit your own original content for the next issue. Email your pictures, patterns, illustrations, comics, writing, etc to storiedstitches@gmail.com by January 22nd.

Storied Stitches Volume 1 Release

Volume 1 is officially here! Who wants a copy? Storied Stitches is a collection of knitting-related creative projects submitted by people on Instagram and Tumblr. It includes beautiful illustrations, inspiration photos, poetry, writing, and even a fingerless glove pattern that is perfect for fall. This 20 page full-color zine is the first volume in a new independent publication series with new issues coming out every two months, organized by the two-woman team of my best friend and myself. A lot of heart has gone into this project, so we hope you find inspiration and enjoyment from what we and our contributors have made.

How to access Volume 1:

-Physical copies are available through Etsy for $5.00.

-You can access a digital copy for free via Google Drive.

-Read it on your desktop via Issuu here.

-If you prefer Venmo or Paypal, please email us for more info.

-We will also have physical copies at the California College of the Arts Holiday Fair in Oakland, CA (more details coming soon).

You are also all invited to submit your own original content for the next issue. Email your pictures, patterns, illustrations, comics, writing, holiday knitting, or anything knitting related to storiedstitches@gmail.com by November 20th.